All These Years
by Poehlaris
Summary: Slight high school AU. Maka has been receiving mysterious presents for White Day. Right before graduation, her admirer promises a meeting. It's not what she expected at all. KiMa.


The past four years had stored a sweet sort of fondness in Maka's heart. She'd always rejected the idea of preparing and delivering handmade chocolate for Valentine's Day. The idea that the world needed a holiday to give out chocolates was outrageous to her. She'd stopped making giri-choco ages ago when her mother left to travel the world and she could see her father through the same kind of eyes. Why should he get any?

She'd considered the idea of making some for Soul and BlackStar, but brushed it off. After all, they'd only think it was stupid and they'd hardly be appreciative.

With that in mind, she never thought she'd be receiving anything for White Day.

The first time she found her "gift," she thought it was some sort of practical joke. Her hands tore the silk ribbon off of the box as she also pulled the top off. Removing the wrapping paper from around what was inside, she was met with two pristine white roses. They had their thorns removed and were tied loosely together by yet another silk ribbon. The box didn't come with a card of any kind, leaving her no clues as to whom they may be from. She set the box on her desk just as Soul waltzed in with BlackStar, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patti. They all gathered around her for a moment to ask who the flowers were from. She made a face at Soul that said it wasn't funny. It took him a moment to realize she thought that he had left them for her.

"As if, Maka," he started coolly, "why would I give you those? Even if I wanted to, wouldn't it have made more sense to give them to you at home?"

When she realized that no one was owning up for the roses, she hung her head and dug out her notebook. Why would anyone...

The next year, Maka was greeted with another delicately wrapped box that had been placed in her seat. With Soul right next to her, she once again eyed him as he shook his head. She hesitantly reached for her package, undoing the same type of silk ribbon as last year. Once the box had been opened, she was met with a very nice pair of white gloves. They felt smoother than anything she'd ever touched before and all she could think was that someone had spent _a lot _of money on them. She slid one on and touched her face, reveling in the softness of the material. Whoever had bought them had very good taste.

This time, there was tiny white card buried at the bottom of the box. Pulling it out, all it said was: "I saw how disappointed you were last year. Maybe you'll start to notice a pattern."

She handed the card to Soul, who had absolutely no idea what it meant. She had shown it all of her friends by the end of the day and no one had anything useful to say. She was only left to wonder what next year would bring...

By her third year at the DWMA, Maka was finally prepared for what may be in store. She headed to class as early as she possibly could to see if she could catch whoever was leaving her these White Day gifts. However, as soon as she came upon her desk, she was disappointed to find that her gift was already waiting for her. Had this person left it after school the day before? It was the only conclusion she could come to. Sighing, she reached for the tiny box, undoing its silk ribbon, only to find two perfectly measured silk ribbons inside the box. There was another card again this year, this time reading: "I was very happy to see you wear those gloves I bought. Did they fit well? I thought this year I should do something simple. You always wear your hair in pigtails, why not adorn yourself with these? I think they'd suit you well."

A longer message this time, but it did little to help her figure out this mysterious "pattern" she was supposed to notice. All she could piece together was that all of her gifts had come in twos. What did that mean, though?

She took her seat and waited endlessly for students to fill the classroom. She was hoping she could scout out her suitor if she paid enough attention. Unfortunately, no one that walked in gave off any sort of lovey-type vibe. Well, at least not directed towards her. Perhaps it was someone not in her class...

For her final year, Maka was hoping for some answers. She desperately wanted to know who had been surprising her every year. Part of her wanted to thank them for such touching gifts, but the other part of her was slightly irked. Anyone who knew anything about her knew that she didn't care for these types of holidays. Who could possibly be so enamored with her to do this? If nothing else, she just wanted to satisfy her curiosity.

So, walking into her classroom, she approached her desk slowly. She was feeling slightly anxious at the thought of what she'd find. Or, more appropriately, what she thought she wouldn't find.

When she finally reached her destination, she was puzzled to not see a box. There was no package sealed with a white ribbon like all of the other years. Instead, her eyes caught sight of a plain white handkerchief. It had been neatly folded into a perfect triangle and it almost made Maka not want to touch it. Still, she reached out her hand, pleasantly surprised yet again by how soft the fabric was. It was different than her gloves, but still... it was wonderful. Picking it up, she felt something stiff folded into it. Carefully unfolding it, she found another white card.

This time it read: "Looks like this will be the last White Day present I'll be leaving at your desk. We're graduating this year, after all. I can't tell you how lovely you looked with those ribbons in your hair at last year's dance party. It looked better on you than I imagined. I can see that you've yet to figure out who I am. Was my clue not enough? Perhaps it was too vague. So I'll tell you what: on graduation day, I want you to look out for me. I'm going to be subtle, but if you look hard enough, you'll see me with _all _four of the items I've given you over the years. I'll be eagerly awaiting your reaction to me. Until then, I'll just have to leave you guessing."

Although disappointed at not finally knowing his identity, Maka was thrilled at the chance of finally meeting him. And vague was right! She'd give him an earful of that when she found him.

When the rest of her friends filed into the classroom, she made it a point to read her card aloud. She told them all to be on the lookout on graduation day for a man with a white rose, gloves, ribbon, and handkerchief. Soul merely rolled his eyes and smirked, pathetically agreeing to help her. She was so obsessed over this. She'd never told anyone, but Soul knew that she kept on digging into his cards, frantically trying to find a pattern that would point him out, and eyeballing everyone that walked by her to see if she could mystically tell that they were the ones leaving her gifts. It would have been maddening had it not been so damn amusing.

Everyone else agreed with relative ease, also being quite curious as to who Maka's secret admirer could be. BlackStar was the only one that went overboard, claiming that she should not fear, for her mighty "god" would surely find out who this man was and let everyone at the graduation ceremony know about it, too.

So Maka did her best to kill time until then. She focused on her studies even more so than usual and started going on binges a few weeks before graduation. Soul noticed that she was up earlier than he was every morning to make breakfast, even though they agreed to take turns. She would clean their apartment to perfection, not leaving a speck of dust or dirt to be found. When she tried to worm her way into his bedroom and tag along with him on his guy only outings, he'd had enough.

"Maka, listen," he said while trying to hold back his frustration, "I know how anxious you are. This guy has been aloof for the past four years and you're finally going to meet him. But all of this obsessive housework, studying, and hanging out isn't good for you. You need to relax."

Maka tried to reason with him, but Soul wasn't having any of it. He knew she was just trying to distract herself so she didn't lose her mind, but it was all making him lose his. When her attempts wouldn't stop, he decided to show her some tough love. He kept his bedroom door locked and often left without saying anything to her. If she was lucky, there'd be a note.

Finally, when graduation rolled around, Maka looked like a two-year old that couldn't sit still. It seemed as though the ceremony was taking a lifetime and she was _really _tired of seeing her papa make faces at her from beside Lord Death. It was obnoxious and embarrassing. She finally had to cross her arms and snub her nose at him to get him to knock it off. Of course, then he merely sulked while up on stage.

When everything was said and done, the former students all went into the cafeteria to celebrate. Gowns were returned and it was then that Maka had her eyes peeled. She was most definitely going to find this guy.

It took both Liz and Patti forcibly dragging her away from the corner of the room to get her to socialize with her friends for awhile. They had to reason with her that this guy wanted to be found, so he wouldn't leave without letting her see him.

After about a half an hour of mingling, Maka finally noticed that something was off. "Hey, guys, where's Kid? I haven't seen him yet." Patti snickered while Liz elbowed her and told her to 'hush.' Everyone raised a questioning eyebrow to the Thompson sisters as Liz tried to laugh it off as nothing. Maka took the opportunity to slip away to go find both her admirer and Kid.

She searched the whole cafeteria, inspecting everyone closely, and there was still nothing. No one covered in her gifts and no Kid.

She finally decided to walk back to the gymnasium, having a hunch that _someone _was going to be there. Perhaps it would be Kid arraigning all of the folding chairs to be symmetrical. Giggling to herself, she mused that it was very probable.

Poking open the door, Maka peered inside. She indeed found Kid, but he wasn't rearranging the whole room. She was shocked, actually, and thought that something might actually be wrong with him.

Walking over to his side, she took a seat next to him. He kept his eyes focused on the stage, but he acknowledged her presence with a smile. "Hello, Maka."

"Hey there, Kid. What are you still doing in here?"

Instead of answering her right away, he sighed before throwing his head back. His eyes were locked onto the ceiling and he seemed to be so content, but also so... so... something. He seemed almost bittersweet. "Is something the matter?"

Closing his eyes, Kid responded, "We've spent four long years roaming through these halls. We've received an invaluable education, marvelous training, and we've made the best of the friends. To think that we all sat together not more than an hour ago is... hollowing, in a way."

Maka was more than a little confused. Kid didn't seem to be the sentimental type. What could he possibly be talking about?

Maka kept her eyes on him, trying to somehow figure out the appropriate thing to say. She noticed his right hand go to fiddle with the rose in his jacket pocket. He wore a very nice suit, much more formal than anyone else, but she supposed that was because of Lord Death. The rose was a beautiful, pure white flower, causing an alarm to go off in Maka's head. She scanned him further, noticing that said hand was covered by a thin white glove, and that very same wrist had a white ribbon tied around it. Abruptly standing up, she noticed the white handkerchief also in his pocket and then she knew... "It was you," she said in barely a whisper.

Kid remained still, letting a small smile grace his lips. She finally knew. He finally got to tell her. He had liked her ever since the first mission they'd gone on together. She was so bright, very strong, expertly skilled, and, damn, she was one hell of a fighter. The more time they spent together revealed even more of their similarities. They were both quiet by nature, both loved to read books, and they were both able to find comfort in each other. Kid had been the most understanding of some of her troubles with Soul, next to Tsubaki. And whenever he felt like he was going crazy with Liz or Patti, it was Maka who calmed him. They were so good for each other and he knew that he'd never meet anyone else like her.

Sure, he wasn't able to say that she was the only one he'd ever want. They were still young, after all. Yet he knew that she was the only one he'd want to pursue. She would be the only woman that would ever make him feel this particular way, and for that, he wanted to show her his appreciation. White Day was the perfect way to go about it.

"For how long?" she asked, voice still hardly audible. She was trying so hard to process everything that had happened. It had been Kid for the past four years leaving her presents for White Day. She could feel so much emotion emitting from him, mixing themselves with her own, that she thought she might faint.

Before anything could happen, though, Kid spoke again, "I don't expect anything from you, you know? I'm sure this must be quite a surprise. I just didn't want to leave you in the dark anymore and I couldn't take you not knowing. You don't have to say anything. I wasn't expecting you to return my feelings, especially not so soon. I can wait." Finally standing from his chair, Kid turned to face Maka for the first time that day. He reached out to her, clasping both her hands in his own. He looked her in the eye, smiling the most relieved looking smile she'd ever seen (and man, was it breathtaking), and he said, "Thank you."

Leaning in towards her, he ghosted his lips onto her cheek, leaving less than a feather light touch to remain. He squeezed her hands gently before walking away, stopping just short of the door. He turned to look back at her, watching her confused eyes bore holes into his skin. He smiled for her one last time and said, "Please don't worry. Just because we've graduated, doesn't mean we won't see each other again. We are friends, after all. I'll wait for your answer for one year, so please take your time. If by then, you haven't decided, then I'll know my feelings are unrequited. In the meantime, please enjoy the rest of the party. I have to go see my father now. Until we meet again."

When Maka finally made it back to the cafeteria, the party was practically over. Liz and Patti had left the same time as Kid, leaving only Soul, BlackStar, and Tsubaki to wait for her. They said, "Well?"

Maka could only clasp her hands over her chest and smile as she said, "I don't really know, but I have a whole year to play with this new feeling. It makes me very excited." Now it was their turn to be confused.

Maka was ready for what the year would bring. She was sure it would treat her well.

* * *

"A/N: I _needed _to write something other than a school paper and discussion board and I _needed _more KiMa. This is what I get. I realize I'm late for White Day, but the idea came to me from a prompt list and I rolled with it. So... how'd I do?"


End file.
